1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an upright-type vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a filter supporting structure for an upright-type vacuum cleaner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional upright-type vacuum cleaner cleans a surface to be cleaned, such as a floor or a carpet, by drawing dust and dirt entertained in air that is drawn from the outside by using a suction force generated inside of the cleaner body. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional upright-type vacuum cleaner has a suction brush 1, a body 2 rotatably connected with the suction brush 1, and a handle 3 disposed at an upper part of the body 2 in order to allow a user to move the suction brush 1. The body 2 is divided by a partition defining a dust-collecting chamber having a dust bag and a motor driving chamber having a motor. The dust-collecting chamber is closed by a dust cover 4. In addition, at a side of the body 2, there is a discharging grill 5 in fluid communication with the motor driving chamber.
A filter grill is formed at the partition in order to allow the air in the dust-collecting chamber to flow into the motor driving chamber. A filter for filtering the drawn air is installed in the filter grill. Vacuum cleaners apply various filter supporting structures into which the filter is installed.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing in detail a part of an upright-type vacuum cleaner applying a conventional filter supporting structure. As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional filter supporting structure includes the filter grill 31 formed at the partition 30 that divides the inside of the body 2 between the dust-collecting chamber 10 and the motor driving chamber 20, a pair of supporting ribs 32, one of which is shown in FIG. 2, disposed at both side-walls of the dust-collecting chamber 10 above the filter grill 31, and a filter guard 50 embracing a filter 40 and installed on the filter grill 31 by being supported by the supporting ribs 32. The filter guard 50 has a grid pattern including a plurality of holes.
According to the above filter supporting structure, the filter guard 50 embracing the filter 40 is installed on the filter grill 31 as a user pushes the filter guard 50 between the filter grill 31 and the supporting ribs 32 after installing the filter 40 in the filter guard 50.
However, the conventional filter supporting structure needs a separate filter guard 50 to settle the filter 40 at the supporting ribs 32, thus the production cost of the vacuum cleaner increases and the changing of the filter 40 becomes inconvenient to the user. Moreover, as the filter guard 50 has a grid pattern, the flow of the air passing through the filter 40 can be inhibited.
Furthermore, in the above conventional filter supporting structure, the supporting ribs 32 have a sharp edge, thus the dust bag can be torn by contact with the sharp edge.
An object of the present invention is to provide a filter supporting structure for an upright-type vacuum cleaner that allows for the filter to be easily changed and reduces the production cost of the vacuum cleaner by removing the filter guard.
The above object is accomplished by providing a filter supporting structure for an upright-type vacuum cleaner according to the present invention having: a body divided by a partition into a dust-collecting chamber having a dust bag and a motor driving chamber; a filter grill formed at the partition in order to allow air to pass through the dust bag of the dust-collecting chamber and into the motor driving chamber, having a filter mounted thereon; supporting protrusions disposed at both sidewalls of the dust-collecting chamber in order to support both sides of the filter mounted on the filter grill; and a plurality of ribs disposed around the filter grill in order to support an upper side and a lower side of the filter.
Accordingly, the filter can be installed on the filter grill without the use of a separate filter guard. Therefore, the number of required elements is reduced and the filter can be easily changed.